The Brain-Melting Double D-Pad Controller

2 posts in one day? Madness. Madness I tell you. Making up for the silly one earlier.

So this is the “Brainmelter” Double D-pad, which is two directional inputs controlled by one thumb at the same time. Basically, a standard D-Pad affixed to a sliding disc input. I thought this would be good for a console controller or as the lone directional input for a handheld or mobile.

I devised 5 prototypes, 3 of which I’ll show you. The nixed 2: a D-Pad sitting on top of an analog stick, and a D-Pad sitting on a roller-ball type of input. Both would be too problematic, with the thumb constantly slipping off. So here are the three I like:

The Red one is a simple, D-pad on a sliding disc. Your thumb would press the directional inputs and with enough weight applied, the sliding disc will move where you want. It’s very simple, but might be problematic: pressing top right and trying to slide to the bottom left might be difficult for the User.

I then added a collapsible ring the user could wear on their thumb for this blue version. You’d move the sliding disc around with your knuckle. The ring does twist in place to ensure unimpeded access to the top D-Pad. This would be considerable better than the red version, however your thumb is locked in place.

Here is the one I like the most. This green prototype has “bumpers” that encircle the top D-Pad, to help you push the sliding disc around. What about tricky maneuvers - like pressing up with top D-Pad, and wanting to go down with the sliding disc? There is a center ‘nub’ that also functions like a bumper, so that will help move the top D-pad in any opposing direction. The outer bumpers are helpful for moving the disc in a similar direction.

So here it is frenetic, FPS-like action:

Basically, you’d have your standard D-Pad locked in place. When you need a second directional input, you’d unlock the D-pad/disc underneath. A few advantages: this saves on needing two inputs on one device. This also frees up one thumb to navigate the button array. It might also take a bit of getting used to, as gamers are conditioned to wielding two independent inputs for control. I think this might become very intuitive given enough practice.

Like this post? Check out my other video game concepts:

Rock Band/Guitar Hero guitar controller prototype

Nintendo 3DS concept guessing

Transforming handheld game device

Blackberry gaming PDA